Home insurance customers should look out for new technology that can estimate the damage caused by flash floods.
The flood model, pioneered by insurance giant Aviva, will help insurers and agencies involved in flood-risk management understand the impact of rain storms.
By using laser technology, experts have been able to map ground undulations as small as 15 cm.
A simulation of a 200-year rain storm has also lead to the development of a digital model for mapping where the water falls and pools.
Launched in 2004, the old version of the map was focused on coastal and river flooding risk and historical claims data.
The surface water data is a new addition that can assess the individual flood risk faced by a single property rather than a blanket assumption that properties in the same area face the same risks.
This new technology for measuring flash-flooding is targeted at insurers. It will help insurance companies to better gauge each customer's specific needs.
Simon Black, head of flood mapping at Aviva, said that the kind of intense rain storms seen in 2007 and again in Cumbria in 2009 were "likely to become more frequent as the climate changes".
He explained that that is important to invest in flood technology, so as to identify clearly who is at risk and who is not.
Mr Black added: "Insurance though is only part of the flooding equation. It is also up to local authorities and government to continue to invest in flood defences and better drainage systems and for homeowners and businesses to consider what they can do to help protect their properties from damage."
The Environment Agency has urged residents of Louth to prepare for flooding, while putting forward rescue plans for a major flooding incident in south-east Wales, over the past week.
Meanwhile, the agency reported that a vital flood defence in South Yorkshire had been targeted by metal thieves twice in a single month. |
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